Out of 125 responses from teachers indicating their top 3 apps, these are the apps that were listed most often.
Over the last few weeks, we ran a survey asking teachers to tell us about two or three of their favorite iPad apps that they use in an education-related context. Today we share the apps that were listed most often, and include some feedback from teachers regarding why they like them so much.
As it turns out, free apps really outweighed paid apps in our survey responses. Here I list eleven free apps that rose to the top of the list when ranked by numbers of votes, followed by four paid apps that performed as well as the lower ranking free apps. Evernote and Dropbox easily rose to the no. 1 & 2 spots in the ranked list, with about 1 out of 3 respondents recommending at least one of these two popular applications.
First, we list the Favorite FREE iPads Apps that teachers indicated they use in their roles are educators:
- Evernote
- Dropbox
- Neu.Notes
- Screen Chomp
- TED Videos
- EduCreations
- iBooks
- Skitch
- Twitter
- Zite
- Science360
Following is a little information about each of these apps, and some feedback on why teachers like them.
1. Evernote (link to app in US iTunes store here)
Evernote allows you to easily maintain sets of notes and access them from just about any device, along with additional functionality. Here are some of the teacher’s comments about why they love this app:
- “It makes my life simpler! Who couldn’t use an app that allows you to clip information from the web, connect to a drawing tool, (Skitch), take notes, has its own email AND syncs all your information seamlessly with your computer, phone and ipad!”
- “I don’t even know where to start. I love this App. I know it was on last year’s list but it is my top App. I use it to store job related info, … snapshots, urls, and mainly just keep me organized!”
- “I save all kinds of resources for myself and to share. I am able to organize them and file them.”
2. Dropbox (link to app in US iTunes store here)Another highly popular app, teacher’s love this one too. Dropbox allows you to synch files between multiple devices so you can easily get to them regardless of which device you’re on, and provides 2GB of storage for free.
- “It allows me to keep all my files in one secure place. When necessary I can share a specific folder with a class and allow for a quick and secure transfer of files.”
- “I use it to transfer/access files between my computer and iPad. I love it because it is an easy way to access files – using email can clutter my inbox and make is difficult to organize.”
3. Neu.Notes (link to app in US iTunes store here)Take hand written notes and drawing on your iPad with great free app for sketching, note taking, mind mapping and more.
- “I use this to write all my notes in class every day. Love it–just like writing on a whiteboard.”
4. Screen Chomp (link to app in US iTunes store here)This teacher’s comment explains Screen Chomp, and why he or she likes using it in their teaching role:
- “This is a whiteboard that allows you to record what you do, and narrate at the same time. It’s great for anything you want to show students. The file is saved online and you can play it on their site or download the mp4.”
5. TED Videos (link to app in US iTunes store here)
Access TED Talks here, “talks from some of the world’s most fascinating people”.
- “I use the videos from TED to spark discussions in my class, as well as to gather information on subjects I’m getting ready to teach. Awesome information here!!”
6. EduCreations (link to app in US iTunes store here)
Educreations turns your iPad into a recordable whiteboard.
- “The ultimate screencasting app for teachers AND for students–teachers can flip classrooms and students can build demonstrations of thinking/knowledge. GREAT app!”
- “I can draw and create lessons on my iPad and I can find other user’s lessons.”
7. iBooks (link to app in US iTunes store here)Apple’s electronic books app is included with iOS 5 (already installed on new iPads). I thought this teacher’s comment showed an interesting approach to the use of this tool, and this can be done more easily for a PDF – you can open a PDF in iBooks once you have it open on the iPad and it will be saved there until you delete it
(when you have a PDF open on the iPad, click the ‘send to’ icon and you should have an ‘Open In …’ iBooks option if you have iBooks installed).
- “This is a perfect app for a classroom teacher. If you want kids to share their writing with one another, all you need to do is take their Word document (or PDF), upload it to a site like 2epub.com, convert it, put it in your Dropbox and then open it in iBooks. Think of the power of all those books on the iBooks shelves… and they’re all written by your students!”
8. Skitch (link to app in US iTunes store here)“Mark up photos, screenshots, maps, and webpages then share them with anyone you like”
(from iTunes store description).
- “It is great for annotating pictures, maps, or screenshots. Simple to use and syncs with Evernote.”
9. Twitter (link to app in US iTunes store here)The insanely popular microblogging platform offers it’s own free iPad app.
- “I use this app to stay up to date on new educational technology, trends in education, trends and ideas in gifted education, and am researching and brainstorming how to incorporate Twitter with my students next year.”
10. Zite (link to app in US iTunes store here)“Zite is a free personalized magazine for your iPad that automatically learns what you like and gets smarter every time you use it”
(from iTunes store description).
- “Gathering web articles on many different topics for educational professional development.”
- “Keeps me up to date on news and blogs–love the easy set up and format.”
11. Science 360 (link to app in US iTunes store here).
“The National Science Foundation’s (NSF) Science360 for iPad provides easy access to engaging science and engineering images and video from around the globe and a news feed featuring breaking news from NSF-funded institutions”
(from iTunes store description).
- “I like to use these videos to reinforce ideas of what my students are learning. This helps me pull them up quickly and use apple TV to watch them.”
- “The app has a good visual field when you open it so you have a good idea what the topic is and if you can tell if it’s a video. I use it with my 3rd grade reading group mostly as a behavior modification.”
So there you have the top free apps chosen. To round out survey results, there were also a handful of paid apps that ranked the same as the lower entries in the top listing above.
The Favorite PAID iPads Apps that teachers indicated they use in their roles are educators:
12. Alge-Bingo (link to app in US iTunes store here)
Students can develop their algebraic equation solving skills through playing a Bingo game. Created by a high school math teacher with over 25 years of experience in the classroom
. ($ .99)
- “For Algebra students to learn and review their equation-solving skills. It is addicting and a fun way to get my kids to learn!”
13. SplashTop (link to app in US iTunes store here)
A very popular remote desktop app that let’s you access your desktop PCs or macs and run the apps on them. ($2.99)
- “This app allows me to control my PC computer through my iPad. I am also able to use the iPad as a slate. This allows me to use my IWB remotely from across the classroom.”
14. Explain Everything (link to app in US iTunes store here)
This iPad presentation tool is easy-to-use, letting you annotate, animate, and narrate explanations and presentations. ($2.99)
- “This is a great, low-cost app that enables you to draw and annotate on the screen, while narrating or recording explanations. You can import photos, PDF and slides on which you can draw and then you can export in multiple formats. Great app when you need to quickly explain something that requires a sketch or drawing and it’s easy to share to your cloud storage or YouTube.”
15. NoteTaker HD (link to app in US iTunes store here)
Capture and manage handwritten notes and diagrams. ($4.99)
- “This is the preferred note taking app for our students. It is very easy to use and has a great interface.”
